Adjustable garment sizer and stretcher



Feb. 15, 1938. M. DICKEY ADJUSTABLE GARMENT SIZER AND STRETCHER Filed Bag. 16, 1935 s Sheets-Sheet 1 {72.1. I V w Feb. 15, 1938. M. DlCKE-Y ADJUSTABLE GARMENT SIZER AND STRETCHER Filed Dec. 16, 1935 3 Shets-Sheet 2 Feb. 15, 1938. M. DICKEY 2,103,303

ADJUSTABLE GARMENT SIZER AND STRETCHER Filed Dec. 16, .1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Feb. 15, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE GARMENT SIZER AND STRETC'HER 6 Claims.

My invention relates to garment stretching frames, and particularly to frames on which such garments as blouses, sweaters, skirts, and onepiece knit dresses may be dried after washing,

in order to prevent shrinkage.-

As is well known, it is necessary for'such articles, especially when made of wool, to be stretched on a frame, and their normal size maintained whilethey are drying, if shrinkage is to be satisfactorily prevented. Such frames are also used not only when knitted garments of wool or silk are to be dried after washing, but also when such garments, even without washing, need to be stretched or sized to conform better to the shape of the person who is to wear them.

The blouse and sweater stretchers heretofore provided, in my opinion, are not practical; for example being cumbersome or complicated to set up; or having hinge elements or other parts which tend to catch in the material to be stretched or to cause unsightly marks and creases to be left in the material; or not being properly shaped to conform to the shape of the blouse or sweater; and, furthermore, with no provision made for stretching a blouse or sweater at the bust; and besides, being so expensive to manufacture that they cannot be sold to meet the popular demand. Similar criticism may be made of one-piece dress stretchers and of skirt stretchers, which furthermore are adapted to be used for one size garment only.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, strong inexpensive garment stretcher usable for blouses or sweaters, and having no hinge elements, or other parts which are apt to catch, or mark the garment; and further, having arm sections which may be detached and arranged inverted over the body of the blouse thus to enable the arranging of the garment stretcher as a whole in compact form for laying aside.

Another object of my invention is to provide a garment stretcher composed of separate skirt and blouse sections, adapted to be usedtogether.

as for a one-piece dress, or separately for either stretcher section when the stretcher is not in use,

and independently of the size. to which the skirt stretcher is adjusted.

A further object of my invention is to provide. for the blouse section of my garment stretcher, a detachable bust-stretcher section, thus making possible a more accurate shaping of the garment, particularly when to be worn by a larger woman; and such bust stretcher section to be adapted for shaping a blouse or sweater with high or low bust.

The above mentioned objects and other incidental features of my invention I attain by the construction of my stretcher hereinafter fully described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows my garment stretcher as composed of separate blouse and skirt sections, connected, and including a bust former detachably mounted on the blouse section;

Fig. 2 illustrates the blouse section of my stretcher with the arm pieces removed, and arranged inverted, and folded one over'the other within the blouse section, thus placing the blouse section in compact form;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view showing one of the arm pieces of the blouse section arranged in its extended position, thus illustrating how the blouse stretcher is set up ready for use;

Fig. 4 shows, on a larger scale, the construction of the'inner ends of the arm pieces, whereby the inadvertent displacement of the arm pieces either folded inward or extended is prevented;

detachably Fig. 5 shows a fragmentary section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Figs. 6 and '7 show, respectively, side elevations of the bust former section of my garment stretcher; Fig. 6 illustrating the bust former sec-' tion as arranged for high bust; and Fig. '7 as arranged for low bust.

My garment stretcher consists of three separate parts, the blouse section A, the skirt section B, and the bust former section C.

Describing first the blouse section A, with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5:

The blouse, section consists of a wire frame made of two parts a and b relatively adjustable to increase or diminish this section in width. That is to say, the ends a, b, a b of the wires composing thetwo frame parts are adjustably connected at the neck and waist lines by sliding said ends one on the other; the fiat metal loops 0, c, c, 0' provided on the wire ends a of one of said frame parts forming guides for the wire ends a b of the other frame parts to slide in, and the frame parts a, 12 being secured inadandbit,

justed position by thumb screws d, d. Thus the width of the blouse section can be adjusted at the neck and the waist lines independently as required. A suspending hook e is provided at the neck of the blouse body section.

The arm pieces and g of the blouse section are preferably made of spring wire in the shape shown by Figs. 2 and 3. The inner end of each arm piece ispreferably made with an outwardly curved portion 72, a locking notch i, and a looking abutment or retaining lug shown in Figs. 2 and 4. At the side of the blouse body section are provided loops is thru which the arm pieces may be inserted, extended, or inwardly folded within the blouse body section.

The insertion of the arm pieces I; 9, thru the loops is is readily done by springing the longitudinal portions of the arm pieces together as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3. When the arm pieces are inserted in the loops k, the lock notch i at the upper inner end of each arm piece will be engaged with the upper end of the loop k, and the abutment :i at the lower inner end of each arm piece will be engaged with the lower end of the loop k; and thus inadvertent displacement of the arm pieces, when arranged in either of their said positions, will be prevented. Said armpiece-locking means also prevents their being pushed inward when the sleeves of the blouse are pulled over them. Also prevents the arm-pieces from being pulled inward by the pull of the arms of the blouse; By making the arm pieces removable the blouse body section may be used without any arm pieces, if desired, and similarly; also, an arm piece may be used separately without the blouse stretcher section, if desired.

The length of the arm pieces, between their extremities, should be such that when the armpieces are arranged in extended position their outer ends will terminate at the top of the wrist portions of the blouse sleeves, and so that the wrist portions of the blouse sleeves will hang free and loose beyond the outer ends of the arm pieces. This arrangement insures that the wrist portions of the blouse sleeves will not be stretched in drying. And, furthermore, the wrist portions of the blouse sleeves may be pinned beyond the outer end portions of the arm pieces, and in that way the blouse sleeves may be stretched and dried to desired length, and also shrunk to their original slenderness.

The outer ends f, g of the arm pieces may also be slightly reduced in width, so that the wrist portions of the blouse sleeves will not be stretched.

The skirt section, shown by B in Fig. 1, is preferably made of two parts, I and m, slidably, adjustably connected at top and bottom by guides '22 and secured in place by thumb screws 0 in similar manner as already described in reference to the blouse body section. Thus the adjustments for waist line and the bottom hem line of the skirt stretcher may be made independently. The top of the skirt stretcher may be provided with flat metal hooks p, or some other convenient means, for detachably supporting the skirt stretcher section from the blouse section.

In using my adjustable blouse body stretcher section, the latter should be adjusted in width so that the measurement across the bust will be approximately two inches larger than the actual measurement across the bust of the person to wear the blouse. And, likewise, in using the adjustable skirt section of my garment stretcher, the same should be so arranged that the measurement across the hip of the skirt indicated by being welded or soldered together.

the dotted line :c-a: in Fig. 1 will be approximately two inches greater than the actual measurement across the hips of the person to wear the skirt. The said arrangement of the blouse section and the skirt section of my garment stretcher is necessary in order that the blouse and skirt will fit the person comfortably and properly.

A simple, non-adjustable skirt stretcher section may be made of wire in the form of a skeleton frame conforming to the outline of the skirt. where the stretcher is to be used by one person only. But, in making such one-piece skirt stretcher frame, the top of the skirt stretcher must correspond to the exact measurement of the waist line of the person to wear the skirt, and the side portions of the stretcher frame should curve outwardly, downwardly from said waist line to the hip line, indicated by the dotted line a::c in Fig. 1; and the cross measurement at said hip line should be approximately two inches larger than the actual hip measurements of the person to wear the skirt. But preferably the skirt stretcher frame should be made so that it can be adjusted as to width as above described, as thus to be usable for skirts of different sizes.

If the top of the skirt is provided with a rubber band, the skirt, in being placed on my skirt stretcher, should be so arranged that the waist band portion of the skirt will be located above the top of the skirt stretcher frame.

The bust former section indicated by C in Fig. 1, and shown also in Figs. 6 and 7, may be made of cross wires q, r and diagonal wires .9, the wires The said wires are so shaped as to give the bust former section the desired bust forming contour, and the bust forming contours are so located with reference to ends of the bust former section as to adapt the latter to be reversed, and arranged as suitable for either a high bust or low bust contour.

The bust former section is made of such length as to extend from neckline to waistline of the blouse section, and the upper and lower ends of said bust former section are made with hooks t6 and t1, respectively, adapted to be engaged with the neck and waist line parts of the blouse section, as shown more clearly in Figs. 6 and 7. The bust former section arranged as shown in Figs. 1 and 6 is for a normal or high bust figure. But for a low bust figure the bust former section would be attached to the blouse section in inverted position, as indicated by Fig. 7. Thus my blouse stretcher section may be arranged to impart a high or low bust contour to the blouse, or with straight front without bust (by omitting bust former section altogether).

The diagonal wires s of the bust former afiord eiiicient means of shaping or stretching V-neck sweaters, since, the V-neck may be pinned to these wires by rust-proof pins, while the garment is drying. Blouses or sweaters with surplice style front may also be accurately shaped in front by pinning overlapping front parts of the blouse to the said diagonal wires. The bust former is also made with semi-circular loops of wire t and t at top and bottom for the shaping of rounded neck lines in front. when the bust contour is required. Any marks made in the garment by the pinning are easily removed, after the garment is dry and stretching has been completed, by steaming such places lightly with a damp cloth placed between the garment and a hot iron.

used with or without the bust former C. All sections of my stretcher are preferably made of heavy rust-proof wire. In actual practice I make my stretchers in three sizes, the means provided 'ior adjusting the widths oi blouse and skirt sections taking care of the intervening sizes.

Modifications in construction, but still retaining the essential features of my invention, must be left to the expediency of the manufacturer. The manner of using my stretcher for shaping garments on it will be apparent from the above description.

I claim:

1. A garment stretcher comprising a skirt section and a blouse body section,- means detachably supporting the skirt section from the blouse body section, wire arm pieces detachably supported by the sides of the blouse body section, said am pieces arrangeabie to extend outward from the sides of the blouse body section or inward within said body section, and a wire bust-forming section detachably supportable on said blouse body section.

'2. A garment stretcher comprising a skirt section and a blouse body section, means detachably supporting the skirt section from the blouse body section, wire arm pieces detachably supported by the sides of the blouse body section, said arm pieces arrangeable to extend outward from the sides of the blouse body section or inward within said body section, and a wire bust-forming section detachably supportable on said blouse body section, said bust-forming section being reversible and adapted to provide either a high or low bust contour.

3. In a garment stretcher comprising a blouse body section made of spring wire, arm pieces of the blouse body section made of wire, the sides of the blouse body section provided with loops thru which said arm pieces are inserted, for lateral extension outwardly from the sides of the blouse body section or for extension crosswise within said body section, the inner ends of said arm pieces adapted to permit the longitudinal portions of the arm pieces to be sprung together, the upper inner ends of said arm pieces having a retaining notch and the lower ends of said arm pieces having an abutment, whereby said inner ends oi the arm pieces may be engaged with the opposite ends 01 said loops of the sides of the blouse body, and inadvertent displacement of said arm pieces, when arranged in either of their said positions, is prevented.

4. In a garment stretcher comprising a blouse body section made of spring wire, arm pieces of the blouse body section made of wire, the sides oi the blouse body section provided with loops thru which said arm pieces are inserted, forlateral extension outwardly from the sides of the blouse body section or for extension crosswise within said body section, the inner ends of said arm pieces including a curved transverse portion adapted to permit the longitudinal portions of the arm pieces to be sprung together, the upper inner ends of said arm pieces having a retaining notch and the lower ends of said arm pieces having anabutment, whereby said inner ends of the arm pieces may be engaged with the opposite ends of said loops of the sides of the blouse body, and

inadvertent displacement of said arm pieces,

when arranged in either of their said positions, is prevented.

5. A garment stretcher comprising a blouse body section made of wire, removable arm pieces made of wire, a loop provided at each side of the blouse body section through which loop one of said arm pieces may be slidably inserted either for lateral extension outwardly from said body section or for extension crosswise within said body section, the inner end of each arm piece bowed to permit the longitudinal portions of such arm pieces to be pressed towards each other, the iongitudinal portions of each arm piece having means for engaging the upper and lower ends of said loop when said arm piece is inserted in said loop, whereby to hold said arm piece rigidly in said loop but permitting said arm piece to be slid out of said-loop when the longitudinal portions of said arm piece are pressed together.

6. In a garment stretcher having a blouse body section a bust former attachable to said body section, said bust former made of cross wires fastened together and so shaped as to give a bust i'orm contour, said bust former having a loop of wire at the neckline corresponding to a front rounded neckline of a garment, and diagonal wires extending downward from the sides of said loop to correspond to a V-shaped neckline; whereby the neck of the garment may be pinned to the corresponding wires on the bust former and held in shape when the front of said garment is stretched over said bust former.

MARGARET DICKEY. 

